Altered Realities: Book Four - Brielle
by SarcasmIsMyIntent
Summary: & alternate universe mini series, Michael x !ZaccharaOFC & Brielle comes to Port Charles to live with her twin brother Johnny and escape her ex Luken. While living here, she'll learn about a birth mother she never knew, hopefully find a solution to her ex problem and she encounters Michael.. but will the past cloud their future? Or can they handle everything they face?
1. Chapter 1

ONE

* * *

Brielle

My brother was tapping me awake and I groaned and swatted at his hand as the turbulence of the plane had me sitting up and swearing not even a full ten seconds later. "Jesus, can the pilot not fly this thing?" I asked John as he chuckled and shook his head.

"So this is it.. Port Charles.. And you're sure it's safer here?" I eyed my brother warily. When you've lived a life of constant disappointments and betrayals like I had, you don't take people at their word very easily. I've been getting to know my brother for a few weeks now, mostly over emails, texts and Skype calls on occasion, but that doesn't mean he's quite made it into my circle of trust yet.. It's a daunting task for most and not everyone makes it in.

He's getting closer with each day that passes though and I like to think that my real mom would've wanted us to be a family, to get to know each other. After he explained everything to me, I think I understand why she'd chosen to give me up and keep him yet live apart from him for over half of his life and frankly, I can't hold it against her.

I mean she was raped at 16. She had what little innocence she might have had at the time stolen from her by a man who worked for my grandfather.. And then my grandfather tried to arrange a marriage between the two. Thank God my mother had the sense to run to Italy. I only wish that maybe she'd stayed in Italy. If she'd stayed in Italy she might still be alive.

My brother reached out and fluffed my hair and told me to relax.

"That's easier said than done." I grumbled as I reached up for my carry on. "C'mon, kid." he took my carry on and slung it over his shoulder as he started to walk off the plane, "I'll show ya around."

"You don't have to do that… You have a club and a casino to run, John.. Besides, I-I.. I think I'd rather just hang around the house and watch movies." I shook my head, eyes widening a little in fear at the prospect of going out on my own. Luken's words rang in my ears and just the thought of him showing up and carrying out his threat had my hands shaking slightly.

"If you keep hidin, Brie, Luken wins. Nothing's gonna happen to ya here. Guards are at your disposal. Not to mention I happen to be nothing if not a damn good shot, sis." Johnny tried reassuring me and it's like parts of me know he's right.. Other parts of me?

Those parts of me are fucking terrified.

The drive back to the house was quiet. My brother and I aren't really big talkers for the most part. Mostly, I was just wondering how much time I borrowed coming here before the inevitable happened. Johnny broke the silence to tell me quietly, "Hey.. It's gonna be okay, Brie. I mean it. You're home now."

"I know, I just.. I hope I didn't bring my own shit on you."

"It ain't just your shit anymore, sis. It's mine too. We're family." Johnny said as he parked the car and we got out. My brown eyes widened at the sheer size of the house and I tried to imagine what it must have been like as a kid, basically having free run of this place.

The rose garden caught my eye right off the bat and Johnny explained, "Our grandfather, he had a thing about roses.. Our grandmother did too. I think the garden was his way to keep her close after she died." and as he spoke, I got this feeling that there was so much more to the story than he was letting on, instead of outright asking, because I still felt like it wasn't quite my place to, I kept quiet and followed him into the house.

"The butler fixed ya a suite of rooms at the end of the hall." Johnny told me as he stepped out of the room to take a call. I collapsed onto the long suede couch and let out a loud exhale of breath. Being here felt like… It felt like all the weight was lifted yet somehow it felt like it wasn't. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's the only way I can honestly explain it.

Johnny came back into the room and tossed me a set of keys as he told me which was for the house key, which belonged to my mom's old car and where he was going.. Apparently the club he owns just became a crime scene. I remembered him talking about a girl who works there, Evette.. I know he said he feels this weird pull to her or something so I asked him in concern if Evette was okay and he nodded and told me "Yeah.. Thank God she wasn't workin tonight."

"Be careful."

"If ya need anything, sis, call me."

I nodded and at first, I tried to settle in and watch a rerun of Sons of Anarchy, but a growling stomach reminded me I hadn't eaten in at least 6 hours. I'd been about to just go scavenge the kitchen but then Johnny's words came back to me about hiding and letting my ex win.

I think that's what swayed my decision to pocket the keys and slip my favorite red flats back on. Maybe if I did a little sight seeing, let myself get used to the lay of the town.. I mean it made sense, I was going to be living here now and most likely, I'd live here permanently because now that I at least knew I had a brother, I wasn't going to want to get far.. I'd probably better get used to the new town.

I needed to try and start looking for a job anyway. My brother told me to take my time, get settled, but I'm just not used to depending on anyone and I never have been. The sooner I assume some sort of schedule, the better off I'll be.

With the decision made, I set off for town.

* * *

Michael

I was meeting my brother and his girlfriend for food and drinks at the Floating Rib and while I waited, I was watching people as they walked back and forth in front of the bar. I'm not exactly sure why because it hasn't happened in a really long time, but when I saw her, there was this split second flash, almost like a memory, but it wasn't anything in the past.. It was the two of us, standing in the middle of the bar, slow dancing. I could kind of even faintly hear the music playing on the jukebox in the back of the bar if I tried.

Morgan snapping his fingers in my face and Tessa following my intent gaze and promptly saying with a soft laugh, "Oh.. Well, she's a pretty girl." which made Morgan turn to look and then give me a raised brow as he pulled Tessa into his lap and pointed out, "But I got the prettiest girl."

"Uh huh, are you sucking up because you flooded the kitchen of my apartment with soap bubbles?" Tessa was giggling, but I wasn't really paying attention to either of them because the brunette I'd been staring at so intently was slinking past, making her way to the bar.

I grimaced as I shotgunned the beer in front of me. Morgan snickered and I gave him a warning glare. "Wasn't she in one of Johnny's cars?" Morgan wondered aloud and I shrugged. I hadn't seen her when she got out of her vehicle. I'd just noticed her when she walked out of our father's coffee shop with a cookie in her hands, walking down the sidewalk.

I mean not that I was looking that close or anything..

"I don't know. I just saw her when she walked out of Dad's coffee shop." I took another sip of my beer and raised a brow when one of my favorite bands started to play as the jukebox in the back fired up. "Someone else likes this crap?" Morgan scoffed and I gave him an annoyed look as I chuckled.

The brunette with the red flats and the painted on black jeans was the person playing it. It made me more curious about her but there was no way in hell I was about to walk over and ask her name. Over the past few years my luck in dating hasn't been the greatest.

She was walking past our table to go towards the bar again and she dropped her phone. For whatever reason, the red flats and the fact that her phone was covered in a red Life Proof case made me think of Claudia but I quickly shoved the thought out of my mind.

I think that maybe I'll never let myself get past the guilt I feel. I mean I was stopping her from hurting my sister Josslyn that night.. But I killed a person, I took a life and sometimes I feel like a monster because of it.

Karma definitely paid me back and I'm still dealing with that in some ways too.

"You okay, Michael? You kind of looked like you saw a ghost." Tessa asked me with a soft concerned smile as I bent down to pick up the phone that the brunette dropped on her way past our table. "Yeah, I'm fine.. I was just thinking."

Morgan gave a nod of understanding.. Lately we've been talking more and it's actually been helpful for both of us I like to think. So nine times out of ten, he knew where my head went when I saw the red cell phone.. And the brunette in question does sort of resemble a younger version of Claudia, I mean it's kind of weird actually.

She could almost pass for a daughter or a younger sister.. Or a female twin to Johnny.. I chuckled to myself at my pattern of thought because it's completely illogical.

"I'm gonna go give her back her phone." I coughed and stood abruptly, all set to walk over but when I turned around, we crashed right into each other. My beer soaked her shirt and her beer soaked mine.

"Christ, I'm sorry, I… I should have been paying attention." she muttered the words softly, a heavy accent I couldn't help but notice.. Maybe southern? I'm not sure, I just know it's not an accent I've heard often around here. I shook my head and then laughed quietly, taking my hands off her arms.

I couldn't help but notice the flinch and now that she was up close, the hunted look in her eyes that gave her the perpetual look of a startled deer in headlights. Like she was terrified of something.

"It's fine. You, umm.. You dropped this." I held out her phone to her and she took it, the phone quickly disappeared into the pocket of her leather jacket and fingers ending in black polished and badly bitten nails caught in long and thick dark hair momentarily distracting me as she looked up at me.

She gave me this slightly less than scared shitless smile and I asked her if she was okay.

"Yeah.. I'm just jumpy… I'm gonna go now.. yeah, just gonna go sit down." she muttered the last and turned on her heels, quickly walking back to the table she'd moved to sit at.

"That was interesting." Morgan muttered as I sat back down. Tessa popped him on the arm and then asked with a giggle, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Did you at least ask her what her name was?"

"No.."

"Damn it, Michael, seriously? She was checking you out." Tessa was scolding me, for a second she almost sounded so much like my little sister Josslyn or Kristina that I couldn't help but laugh. Morgan laughed too and then sipping his beer he suggested that Tessa did have a good point.

I was just about to work up the nerve to go over and ask what her name was but when I looked over at the table, she was gone. I frowned for a minute or two and then shrugged it off. And to get it out of my mind, the strange feeling I got when I saw her, I got my brother to play me in 3 rounds of pool.

But for whatever reason, even when I'd gotten back to the Quartermaine mansion that night and started to get ready to go to sleep and get ready to get up and go to work early the next day, I still couldn't get the look in her eyes out of my mind.. Or the way she resembled Claudia so much.

"Stop it, Mike. Go to sleep, damn." I grumbled, annoyed with myself by this point. Shoving my head beneath the pillows, I finally managed to get to sleep.

* * *

Brielle

My tour of Port Charles ended at my real mom's gravesite and I sat down on the marble bench beside it, looking at my hands for a few minutes. "I forgive you, mom.. and I understand why you gave me up when I was born.. I've been talking to my brother a lot and he's tried to tell me everything about you but I just… I wish you were here right now. I could really use some kind of maternal guidance… something… who am I kidding.. I could use a fucking spine." I admitted as I shook my head in disgust with myself.

That guy was handsome and he seemed to be really sweet and just a little awkward.. It's weird but when I walked out of the coffee shop by the bar I went in earlier, I saw him sitting in the window and for a few seconds I just.. Stared.

Probably blew that when I made a complete ass of myself earlier when we smacked into each other while I was looking for my phone. I'm so sick of flinching and having a miniature panic attack every single time someone touches me like he did to steady me and keep me from falling on my ass after we bumped into one another. I hate that Luken's done that much damage and I was sitting here in a cemetary in the dark venting to a dead mother I never even got to meet.

Somebody murdered her. Just thinking about it had me feeling bitter all over again. I wiped at my eyes and bunched my knees up, resting my chin on them, wrapping my arms around them. "I'm damaged, Mom."

It was weird, what happened next.. It's like I felt this cool breeze next to where I sat on the bench.. No, I didn't see her ghost but I got this calming feeling… I felt pressure, almost like I was being hugged?

I scoffed about it, ghosts are not real.

I just wanted to think that somehow my mom was listening to everything and hopefully, she wasn't judging me harshly. I mean John, he told me she was this amazing and bad ass woman. She didn't take anyone's shit.

Me? I let everybody walk all over me. And I loathe that about myself.

My brother cleared his throat from behind me. "Figured you'd come out here." he was sitting beside me and he asked me if I'd gotten anything to eat. "Earlier I got ribs at that bar by the docks.. I still got some left if you wanna go back home and split them."

"Yeah. Let's get goin. This place gives me the creeps after dark. Kinda why I only come by when it's daylight." Johnny chuckled as he admitted it and I nodded, shivering a little. " It's not so bad.. Kinda peaceful." I mused as we walked to our cars and drove back to the house.

Once we'd eaten and I'd gotten settled into bed, I started to doze off and for once, instead of tossing and turning and listening to every single creak or noise of the darkness around me, I dozed off easily.. I think I slept better that first night at my brother's place than I had in a few years.

I felt safer for the first time in a really long time and I'm not sure why because I'm actually the most scared I've ever been right now.

Tomorrow I'd try to apply for work at a few more places. I need to start settling into a routine, I need to start trying to put the past behind me. I need to get stronger.

Now I just have to actually try and do all of this.

Something tells me it's going to be harder than it sounds but I need to approach this as an adventure and not something to be afraid of for once.. Like I used to do before I got mixed up with Luken and I let him break me down, let him make me afraid to be myself.

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **As previously stated in the footnote of my other stories, if you want to know more about Brielle, check out my user bio in the next hour or so and her information will be posted. you should probably read my user bio just to be safe to find out everything you need to know about my little alternate universe Altered Realities because trust me, it will be helpful.**

 **Obviously, this is Michael and Brielle's story. Morgan and Tessa and Johnny make appearances in this chapter and yes, there are hints of the paranormal now and then, but it's mostly symbolic. As far as Michael's weird vision, I'm going off of a cool kinda mini story arc that they dropped for him right after the head injury. the gist of the angle i believe was that he developed some kind of ESP like ability. i'm going to read up on it a little more but there may be hints of it making an appearance here and there.**


	2. Chapter 2

TWO

* * *

 _Interlude / Otherworldly Visits_

 _Michael wasn't sure why he was even in the graveyard, really.. And lately, since the run in with the mysterious brunette at the Floating Rib about a week ago, he'd had the night he was forced to kill Claudia on his mind a lot._

 _He sat down on the marble bench next to her grave and for a few minutes, he looked at his hands quietly. And then, he broke. "I'm sorry." he kept repeating it over and over. This strange feeling hit him, he felt like he wasn't alone and he looked up just in time to see this weird misty shape. He rubbed his eyes.. had he really had that many drinks after work earlier?_

 _The shape took on a more clear form and then he thought he heard whispering, far away, almost hard to make out. "Take care of her if you want my forgiveness."_

" _Who?" he asked it aloud but the 'shape' he'd seen lurking near the graveyard was gone. Michael laid the single rose down on the headstone and he stood, rubbing his head in confusion. He happened to look across the street just in time to see the brunette stepping out of the Metro Court, a camera around her neck, headphones in and her hands in her pockets. He also happened to see the man in the hoodie getting closer and closer to her, reaching for her… he darted across the street and waited in the lobby of ELQ until he saw her coming, the guy hot on her tail and then he stepped out in front of her. if anything, he thought he'd be able to distract the guy before the guy made another attempt to grab her._

 _and he realized then, yes.. he was freaked out by his seeing the guy attempt to grab her once already. he didn't know why and he still hadn't figured out what drew him to her, but he did know that he didn't want anything bad to happen to her._

* * *

Brielle

My head snapped up and my eyes darted around as I tensed all over. I've been keyed up all day.. My ex is playing his games again and then there's the fact that the town I've just come to to be safe now has a body count of 3 and they're all brunette, well.. You can see how I'd be more than a little concerned, yeah?

I wasn't sure why, but I found myself surveying the crowd around me as I made my way down to the Floating Rib where I was meeting Johnny to get some ribs after work. He was bringing Evette, I was meeting this girl who had my brother up in arms and I sensed it was a big step for my brother, letting someone meet a girl he was interested in. I'd been distracted before, but for whatever reason, the sudden tension I felt had me being more alert and aware. And I noticed the guy then, trying to be conspicuous but he stood out like a sore thumb to me.

I don't think I've ever been as glad to see someone as I was the blond guy from the bar a few nights ago as I was when we smashed into one another for a second time. He steadied me then before I could say or do anything, I was being pulled into the lobby of some office building or something.

"What in the hell?" I squeaked, backing away from him with a fearful look in my eyes and instantly feeling like a freak or a defective human for doing it. He nodded to the door. "That guy was following you. I pulled you in here." he nodded to the man I'd noticed myself just seconds before smashing into him.

"Yeah, I saw him too, he gave me the creeps." I bit my lip and he chuckled. "I'm Michael. We sort of did this backward."

The name sounded vaguely familiar but nothing immediately came to mind. My cell phone rang and I paled, my hands instantly started to shake again and quickly, I went to shove the phone into my pocket. Michael asked me with a concerned look, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just.. Some creep has been calling and breathing then laughing all day.. It's probably a prank."

"Are you sure? I mean one of the papers running the story on the murders this week seemed to think that the killer called or texted his victims."

"Theoretically, Michael, I'm counted out of that.. Both of those girls and the third one they found at lunch time today all worked at Vaughn's.. Trust me, I am the absolute last person who'd work at a strip joint.. I'd never make any money. Unless people paid me to put it all back on." and I gave an awkward laugh, tangling fingers in my hair while shuffling my feet. He eyed me and shook his head. I think he wanted to say something but he decided against. I remembered then that I hadn't told him my name and he'd introduced himself finally, so I warily held out my hand and managed a brave smile as I said "Brielle Zacchara."

His eyes widened and I laughed softly.. "No, my brother won't murder you for talking to me, before you ask. I mean unless you're being sleazy.. John strikes me as the kinda guy who takes no shit and hates sleazeballs."

"It's nice to finally know your name, Brielle."

The statement had me curious but I quickly shoved that curiosity down as deep as it would go. If curiosity killed the cat and my ex damn near did kill me, not so sure it's a good idea to be curious about Michael either.

"Looks like the weirdo is gone." I mused after this awkward ten second silence. "I should get going.. Nina has me going to take photos of some stupid high society wedding. They better have good food." I laughed and Michael gave a laugh too and I started to walk out of the building. I noticed the name on the building then, ELQ.. as in Quartermaine… As in Michael Quartermaine, adopted son of Sonny Corinthos, an enemy of my brother.

Also the guy who killed my birth mother.

My stomach churned as I thought to myself, _'See? Can't even let your guard down for a second and you're meeting men who are bad for you.. And feeling attracted to them. This, Brielle, it's why you're taking yourself completely off the market. That guy killed your mom for f ucks sake!'_ and I pretty much decided then… I'd keep my distance from Michael.

I just wasn't sure how to be around him now that I knew what I knew. Frowning a little, I started to make my way down to the Botanical Garden at Metro Court where the stupid wedding I was photographing for the magazine was being held.

* * *

 _Interlude / Protective Mothers_

 _She wasn't sure why or how, but she was able to come and go when needed. And apparently, one of her babies needed her. She stood in the back of the wedding party, watching Brielle move in for the best shots and she smiled to herself. Every bit as beautiful as she'd dreamt her little girl would be before she handed her over to a good set of adoptive parents at 16. Claudia could only hope she'd had a good life._

 _She had her suspicions, though.. And she'd been eavesdropping at the house when Brielle and Johnny were around, so she knew about the situation with Brielle's ex and she didn't like it, not one bit. She wished like hell she was alive, that jerk would feel her wrath and then some. She suspected that if he dared show his face, John would take care of the guy, no worries.. But being a spirit, she got insight into things that normal people, living people.. They didn't get glimpses to what lie ahead._

 _And she knew something about Brielle's life that Brielle didn't.. Michael Corinthos III was going to be a very important part of it. Brielle felt a pull to him when she'd first seen him and Claudia knew that the feeling had been mutual._

 _She also knew that as of an hour ago, Brielle had put two and two together and she'd realized who Michael was and what he had done.. But she didn't know the context behind what happened that night, the bad decisions and mistakes on her part that went into Michael being forced to kill her to protect his newborn sister._

 _Somehow, Claudia knew that she'd have to find subtle little ways to clue in her daughter as to what really happened that night or Brielle would probably let her future slip right through her fingers. But for right now, Claudia was here for another reason._

 _The man from the sidewalk, the one in the hoodie, he was lurking, watching Brielle as he had on more than one occasion. And Claudia was here to make sure that nothing happened to her daughter. She wasn't sure how she'd stop it but she knew that she was nothing if not resourceful and she'd find a way to keep Brielle safe if she had to._

 _When the man left, she followed him._

* * *

Brielle

I felt it, the whole time I was photographing the wedding… the strong sensation that I was being watched. Two times when I'd look around, I thought I saw a dark haired woman, blurrier than everything around her, standing just out of my line of clear sight. I put it down to the migraine I had now and dismissed it though.. That wasn't what worried me.. It was seeing the guy with the hoodie down low over his face that bothered me. The way he stood there, out of place in the high fashion suit and tie and formal gown adorned people surrounding us.

I bit my lip and focused for the last shot of the day and when I looked back up, the man was gone.

Maybe I was just imagining things. Yeah, that had to be it. I took out my cell phone to call Johnny and tell him I was on my way to the Rib to meet him and Evette and I saw it then.

TEXT: Hey beautiful.

TEXT: You would look amazing chained to my basement wall.

TEXT: I'll see you soon, beautiful.

I dropped the phone and it landed at someone's feet. I quickly bent to grab the phone and shoved it out of sight, standing again to find my eyes meeting the warm brown eyes of Michael. For a second I considered the fact that someone up there must really like torturing me, I mean..

And then I was mentally degrading myself because how sick is it when you still feel drawn to the guy who murdered your mom? I thought so, that's what I thought too. It's pretty fucked up.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." my tone came out stiff, slightly edged with fear and I coughed a little. I was tense all over. My eyes darted all around and he asked again, "Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're scared to death."

"I'm fine, just.. It's been a weird day."

I hurried away before he could ask me anything else because despite what I know about him now, there's still this part of me who would pour out my soul to him if I stood there too long, if I didn't watch out. And there is no way in hell I'm going to let that happen.

It's because of him that I didn't get to meet my mom before she died.

I slid into a chair at the booth my brother and Evette were sitting at in the bar and Johnny asked me if I was okay. I slid my phone across the table and then said dryly, " My ex. He found me."

"You sure it's him, Brie?" Johnny raised a brow and growled, punching the table when he read the messages. He showed Evette and she bit her lip and then said quietly, "I got the same message an hour ago."

I swallowed hard and it felt like my throat closed for a few seconds. My heart was racing and I tried to stay calm.

"You should let me take that to the station." my brother told me as I nodded and then he asked, "What else is wrong, Brie? You looked kinda pissed too."

"I saw the guy who killed our mom."

Johnny sucked in a breath and then said quietly, "Oh."

"Yeah.. That guy I told ya I ran into last week in here?" I asked, biting my lip. He nodded, we'd had a discussion about the whole thing, I'd told him the weird way I felt pulled to the guy. " It was him."

"There's.."

"He killed our mother, John. Meaning he's a killer."

Johnny was going to say something but instead, he kept quiet. We butt heads quite a bit, we're both stubborn. I think he knew that whatever he was going to say next was going to be ignored because I'm pretty sure he knew by looking at me, he could tell my mind was made up on the subject.

To change the subject, we started talking about the wedding I'd just had to endure and it slipped my mind at the time to tell him about the guy in the hoodie. It was probably just some weirdo.. Just like I was pretty convinced that whoever texted me was probably just playing sick jokes on random women.. Or random cell numbers. It wasn't a stretch. I mean murders always bring copycats on the crime shows I watch on tv sometimes.

I got the feeling I was being watched again and I turned quickly, just in time to see that man making his way out of the bar. I bit my lip and took a breath or two, reminded myself that I didn't fit any profile the killer might have for a victim.. So far, the three women he'd killed were all employed at Vaughn's.

But I was worried about Evette.

"Have you told the police about your messages, Evette?" I asked, eyeing her in concern. She sipped her beer and shook her head and Johnny swore, giving her a mildly irritated look. "Seriously? Ya got another text and you didn't tell 'em?"

"I didn't tell them, Johnny, because I think that somebody's just fucking with me. Crazy bastard ex, remember?" she asked him as he grumbled and stood. "C'mon, both of ya. We're goin to the station now."

"Are you really sure that's a good idea, Johnny?"

"If I talk to the right person, yeah." Johnny grumbled, something about how he hated trusting the bastard he was about to trust and down to the station we went.

After about a ten minute wait, we were lead into the office of some guy named Dante. He's the head detective, apparently, and my brother trusts him more than most of the other guys. I've never asked why, I mean it's not really my thing, this whole organized crime thing.. Maybe he was one of the guys on the take?

No, he didn't seem like that kind of person.

My eyes darted around his office and settled on a picture that he was standing beside Michael in, they were at Yankee Stadium. I elbowed Johnny but Johnny and Evette were arguing back and forth and finally, Johnny convinced her to tell Dante about the text and he took my phone too, giving it to him.

I must have been obvious in my staring at the picture because Dante explained, "My half brother, Michael."

"We've met." I muttered quietly, deciding against saying anything else about it.

And I'll say it again.. Somebody up there really enjoys tormenting me, from the looks of it. My phone and Evette's phone was taken into evidence and after Dante took our statements, I thought about the guy I'd seen two or three times lurking near me today.

"it might be nothing, officer.. But I've seen the same guy lurking around me 3 different times today." I told him about it and then he got me to describe the guy. I apologized after I'd finished because basically, the description I'd been forced to give because I had no clear view of his face any of the 3 times sounded like your average college guy and literally could be any man who put on a hoodie.

"Don't be sorry.. I mean ya never know. Could wind up being a break."

While we were waiting for the all clear to leave, Dante and three other officers got called out to another crime scene. And I found myself wondering.. Was I really safe anywhere?

Because it seemed like things were getting pretty dangerous here too.

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **As previously stated in the footnote of my other stories, if you want to know more about Brielle, check out my user bio in the next hour or so and her information will be posted. you should probably read my user bio just to be safe to find out everything you need to know about my little alternate universe Altered Realities because trust me, it will be helpful.**

I've decided to do this one in sort of a supernatural theme because GH has a long history of 'ghosts' returning to their loved ones. And it's almost Halloween, so ghost stories and hauntings and stuff are cool, yeah? Anyway, it's more or less going to be here and there and not every single chapter, I swear. Also, I went ahead and had Brielle figure out that Michael is the reason her birth mother is dead... So there's more of a struggle in them getting together.

I really hope you guys are enjoying these, i love writing them.

Thank you to my anonymous reviewer and I love you so much! Also a thanks to the two favorites and 3 follows I've gotten and I hope you guys continue reading and enjoying these things too!


	3. Chapter 3

THREE

* * *

Brielle

2 Weeks Later

TEXT: You look good in red, beautiful.

TEXT: I can see you but you can't see me.

TEXT: But soon, beautiful.

My hands were shaking so badly that I dropped the phone onto the concrete and then spilled my coffee everywhere. I swallowed hard and I bent, picking up the phone gingerly and shoving it into my pocket. The coffee cup went into the trash right after and my eyes were darting suspiciously around the crowd outside the cafe the entire time and I was walking backwards.. Which was precisely how I wound up crashing into Michael again.

TEXT: So skittish, beautiful.

TEXT: I can practically smell your fear and I fuckin love it.

The two texts came in rapid fire and I tried to pretend to ignore them, mostly trying to appear calm and unafraid, but then my phone rang and yes, I completely lost my shit. Look, my mother was the one with the titanium backbone, not me. And if you knew what the last few years of my life were like? You'd probably get it.. And think I was pathetic for enduring everything I endured.

But when you're brainwashed into believing that you have nowhere to go if you did try to leave and nobody would try to help you.. That was my predicament at the time. At the time I didn't know about my brother or anything, either.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked as he steadied me. I flinched, tried to flinch out of his grip and he gave a concerned look. "You look like you're scared to death."

Instead of answering, instead of pouring the truth out to him like everything in me seemed to want to do, I neatly sidestepped him and tried to hurry down the sidewalk. I didn't even realize that he'd found my phone until he was catching up to me, tapping my shoulder. When I turned around, he looked a little freaked out and he held my phone out to me.

I muttered a thanks and shoved it into the pocket of my jacket.

"You got a text."

"I know." I winced at the harshness of my tone and so did he. "If this person's sending these a lot you need to tell someone."

I gave a nod, it was nothing my brother hadn't already told me a thousand times. I'm fairly sure it's just my ex. I'm fairly sure that he's here, in town, hidden somewhere, just waiting until my defenses are down and I think I'm in the clear. Then he'll show up and then I'll pay for leaving him and thinking I'd just get away or that I'd get a happy and peaceful life.

I've never been as happy to hear Maxie Jones-Spinelli calling my name as I was when she did a few seconds later and without even thinking about my dropped phone ( and I wouldn't until later ) I took off running towards her after muttering a hasty and half hearted goodbye and thanks to Michael.

* * *

Michael

I'm getting this distinct feeling that Brielle hates me for whatever reason. And it bugs me and I wonder why. I probably shouldn't have when I realized that she'd forgotten her phone was even in my hands in her hurry to get the hell away from me just now, but I sat down at a cafe table outside Sonny's coffee shop and I unlocked the phone.

And I went through some of the contents.

When I realized that Johnny was her brother, it all made sense. She knows what happened to her mother by now and she most likely figured out that I'm the one who did it. But she doesn't really know my side of the story.

TEXT: You are going to wish you hadn't kept her phone.

TEXT: I'm going to gut her and there's not a damn thing you can do, loverboy.

TEXT: I might even let you watch when I do it.

I dropped the phone then and looked up and around. I thought I saw someone moving towards an alley and my instinct told me something was off about the person, so I took off towards him at a run. I lost his trail because he had a head start on me, but I'd seen enough to know that it was the guy in the hoodie I'd seen following Brielle a time or two before.

I still hadn't been able to see his face clearly, but I recognized the hoodie and the limp in his left leg. It was enough to go and do something if she wasn't going to, judging by the way she'd acted just now before she ran from me too, she wasn't.

I found my brother's office and sat down, putting the phone onto the desk. Dante took it and then I explained everything, not leaving anything out. When I finished, Dante called Diego Alcazar and Logan Hayes into the room and after giving them the phone and explaining that my prints were going to be on it because I'd accidentally picked it up when Brielle dropped it, he asked quietly, "So.. She even know the whole story behind what happened that night?"

I shrugged. I mean obviously she's got her mind made up about me and there's probably nothing I can do to change that. But Dante and Morgan both know that I have this really strange and strong pull to her because I talked to them both about it.

So Dante telling me that I should explain everything didn't come as a surprise. Morgan keeps threatening to, saying that if I'm not gonna try and be happy, he's going to butt in. So far, he hasn't done it, but I'm pretty sure that sooner or later, he'll try to.

The way I see it is this.. It won't matter one way or another, she's already made up her mind about me.

I left the police station and despite knowing I shouldn't, that she probably has zero interest in seeing me, I found myself going to the Metro Court and despite wanting my mother aware of anything I felt at all, I was talking to her when I saw Brielle making her way across the lobby.

My mom nodded in her direction. "Is that her?"

"Mhmm. Mom, don't stare."

"She's skittish. At least twice last week she's spilled coffee in the lobby. She is definitely not what I'd picture Claudia's daughter being like. And her being skittish, Michael, might be because she's in some kind of trouble."

"Mom, don't give me a lecture, okay? I didn't say I was going to run off to Sonny's island with her and elope. I just said there's this weird connection to her and that since she apparently knows who I am and what I did, she hates me now so there's zero chance of anything changing." and my mom nodded to the spot directly behind me.

"I don't hate you. It's hard for me to get around what happened to my mother, especially given I never got to meet her. What are you doing here anyway?" Brielle furrowed her brows as she eyed me warily, especially the rose in my hand that I'd taken from the vase on the desk while talking to my mother.

"When you ran into me earlier and then ran, you left your phone behind.. And I saw the texts, Brielle."

Her eyes widened and she got the appearance of a startled deer in headllights. "Why in the hell were you going through my phone, Michael?"

"It went off in my hand and you don't have a lock code?"

My mother was watching us with a curious look on her face and she spoke up, told us both she was going to the bar.

I nodded and Brielle studied me quietly, biting her lower lip. "I don't need some knight in shining armor, okay? And if this is just because of that night and my mother, you don't have to try so hard to save me.. Trust me, Michael, I'm a lost cause."

"Dante has your phone. It's evidence now."

"God damn it, Michael.. What business of yours was it?" Brielle was angry, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were gleaming almost a golden brown and despite my best efforts, I found myself thinking how hot she was angry.

And then mentally kicking myself.

Why do I want what I obviously cannot have?

I mean, so what there's a pull to her. I killed her mother, she knows it, she sees the monster in me.

Just like I do sometimes.

"Someone should obviously do something. You weren't going to."

"Because I know it's my ex and I know that what I've got coming to me is something I deserve! You don't just get away like I did and expect to be happy ever again! God damn it, now the asshole will somehow find out who you are.. And my brother. I gotta.. I gotta go. Now." she was in full blown panic mode and before I could say or do anything, before it even clicked that she'd been worried about her ex retaliating against me somehow, ( which honestly made zero sense to me ) she was running out of the hotel and I'd lost her in the heavy afternoon crowd walking on the sidewalk.

* * *

 _Interlude – Help from Beyond / Confessions_

 _Her heart beat loudly against her chest as she shoved through the crowd. Coming here had been a huge mistake. She never should have let her brother talk her into thinking she'd be safe and she'd get to have a happy life because she'd known better, deep down. She shoved through more people and just as she ran past an alley, she caught sight of the man in the hoodie hot on her trail._

 _He grabbed her quickly, held a finger to his lips and nodded to an alley further away. "That guy has been following since you came to town."_

 _Brielle's eyes followed the mans even as she squirmed in his grip and she tried to get away. "I'm not an idiot. I know he's following me. Maybe I'm just sick of living in fear of the inevitable, sir."_

" _If I hadn't started following you that guy would have gotten you seven times by now. My son, he seems to have this odd fascination with you."_

 _Brielle was on the verge of screaming but then the man said quietly, "And your mom is worried about you, okay? And she can't come and go like me. She can but only certain hours.. Look, it's complicated and I don't have time to explain."_

 _When it clicked, that she could see the wall behind the man through the man, she started to slump forward in a faint, quickly caught by the man._

" _That guy is going to try to kill you. At least let someone help you, kid. And before you judge Michael.. Actually try to find out what happened that night." was the last thing the man said before disappearing and Brielle completely passed out. She came to only to catch sight of what she could have sworn for a second was her mother standing over her._

" _You have the same backbone as me.. You know it as well as I do. Now for the love of God, Brielle Dominica, you use it. Let people help you. Stop letting this asshole win!"_

 _After a few seconds of trying to decide whether she was going crazy or if it was lack of sleep and stress making her have very vivid hallucinations or whether she'd actually just seen the two people she'd just seen or not, she grumbled "Fuck this." and started to walk out of the alley._

 _The only problem with this was that when she walked out of the alley, the man in the black overcoat and the ski mask was waiting for her and he grabbed hold of her. She didn't stop to think, she didn't have time to really panic or freeze up like she probably would have. Instead, she sent her elbow smashing into his gut, stomped down on his foot and then when he started to drop to the ground, she turned and ran as fast as she could through the crowd, screaming her head off._

 _And she ran straight into Michael again._

 _Michael eyed her, steadying her. She was shaken up, she was crying and pale. "Hey, shhh.."_

 _To his surprise, she let him lead her into his father's coffee shop and sat down at one of the tables. "This man in a black ski mask just ambushed me."_

" _When? Where?"_

" _I got away, okay? It's probably someone who works for my ex. I was going to PCPD.." Brielle took the cup of coffee that Sonny bought out to the table, taking a long sip and a few longer deep breaths. Did she mention the other man?_

 _Nope, no fucking way. It was almost as insane as seeing her very dead mother standing over her when she came to. And Brielle was not about to have her sanity come into question because she already looked screwy enough. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that most people thought she was timid and skittish and weird. And they were right too. Maybe that's why it made it easy for people like her ex and her adoptive father to do what they'd done to her._

 _Michael sat there wondering if he should tell her about the three or four times he'd 'heard' her mother talking to him when he went by the graveyard. He ultimately decided no, it wasn't a good idea. She already strongly disliked him._

" _Either way, you need help. You need protection or something." that came from Sonny, the statement shocked Michael. He looked up at his adoptive father and Sonny sat down and then asked, "Does your brother know about any of this?"_

" _He got me out and bought me here. I was.. pathetic. I was fucking pathetic. I should have been as strong as she was, I couldn't even get myself out of there.." Brielle bit her lip as she stared intently into her cup of coffee._

" _Michael, take her home and talk to John when you get her there. I hate the guy but I'd want someone to tell me if it were Kristina or Avery.."_

 _Michael nodded and Brielle eyed the hand he held out to her warily, biting her lip, ultimately standing on her own. They walked out of Sonny's coffee shop and Brielle sighed quietly. "You have got to leave me the hell alone, okay? There's.. Too much shit."_

" _I've actually been trying not to run into you, believe it or not. You're going to believe what you want to believe about me, no matter what I say." Michael admitted it quietly, wincing because it did really hurt, her not knowing or even wanting to know the whole story behind that night, just making a snap judgement because of what happened._

" _Not just that! Do you really think my ex is ever going to just magically leave me the hell alone? There's a reason he got away with it all. He paid off the right people to look the other way, to make me think I was doing something to deserve it, to keep me doubting myself." Brielle shook her head as she started to walk away. Michael caught up to her and then said calmly, "At least let me get you to your brother."_

" _Fine."_

 _They got into his car and he started the drive to Johnny's grandfather's mansion on the outside of town. It started off quietly, but the silence got to be too much. And Michael was surprised when she looked him dead in the eyes and asked one question.. "Why?"_

" _I was afraid if I didn't do something that night she would have killed my mom or my little sister. I didn't stop and think. I've lived with that night and regretted it every single day since, actually." Michael answered quietly, glancing over at her, figuring he'd find her looking out a window, instead, he found her looking right at him. She eyed him warily._

 _The words of the 'ghost/hallucination' from earlier in the alley came back to her.. Let him explain.. And quietly, she nodded and then asked another question. "How bad was it… I mean at the end?"_

" _She wasn't herself.. She wasn't in the right frame of mind anymore, Brielle. She honestly would have killed my mom or my sister that night. It was pretty bad, she snapped that night." Michael looked over again and finally, just as they passed Vista Point, he pulled off at one of the little rest areas._

" _What are you doing?"_

" _Stopping." Michael answered quietly, putting the car in park, killing the engine. What he didn't tell her was that he thought he saw a car fall in behind them and that it had been keeping consistently close for at least the last five minutes.. When he'd turned off and went down the road to the rest area, it was in the hopes that the car would pass by._

 _Brielle started to look panicked, Michael said in the calmest tone possible, "Not to do anything to hurt you, okay? I know you don't but you have to trust me. You'd rather not know why I'm stopping."_

" _I'll scream if you try anything."_

" _Tell me what you really think of me." Michael muttered bitterly, a hurt look in his eyes as they got out of the car and he glanced back at the road, breathing a lot easier when the car kept going past._

" _It's not you.. It's.. Look, when you've had the life I had.. You get used to being treated a certain way.. Do you know, Michael, why I was even married to this prick bastard?" Brielle wasn't sure why she was suddenly about to pour out her soul to her mother's killer of all people, but she couldn't stop once she'd started and she ultimately wound up telling him everything, how her so called father basically sold her to the guy to pay a debt and keep from getting a bullet and concrete shoes to how her brother tracked her down after he got out of Pentonville, got her out of the situation._

 _She sugar coated a lot of it because Michael was looking more and more sick and angry by the second, but she told enough that he could easily guess the rest. When she finished, she told him quietly, " I wish I wasn't such a fucked up person.. I really do, because.." and she muttered "Nevermind." looking down at her hands, staying quiet._

 _Michael sat there, letting everything she said and everything she hadn't said soak in. "You're not fucked up." he told her finally and then before he could stop himself, everything was coming out.. The coma, the blackout rages, the rape while in prison, all of it._

 _Brielle bit her lip as she listened to him telling her everything he'd lived through. And she grimaced and wanted to stop him when he got to her mother's death and the rape but she didn't, he shook his head and kept going._

 _What happened next really surprised both of them because neither of them ever saw it coming. Brielle slid into his lap and pulled him into a kiss, it was a little clumsy, a little desperate but lip bruising, hungry and passionate too. It didn't feel like the times Abby or Starr kissed him, or the few times he'd kissed Kiki.._

 _This was different. It was intense, like a slow burning fire flowing hot through his veins. It felt like coming home after having been away for years. It felt right, not just okay or good, or something that happened in the heat of passion and lust._

 _His fingers hooked in her thick braid and pulled it free, tangling in her hair as he deepened the kiss and slid his other hand down, using it to grip her ass. She shivered against him and nipped at his lip. He nipped back at her lip._

 _When the kiss broke, because neither could breathe and they needed to catch their breath, Brielle muttered quietly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… Fuck."_

" _No, it's okay." Michael quickly tried to reassure her and she licked her kiss swollen lips just staring at him a few seconds. "I don't know.. Like, I know I shouldn't feel what I do, Michael.. But I can't stop it, either."_

" _Me either." Michael admitted quietly, looking up at her after dropping his gaze to his hands for a few seconds. The sun was starting to set, it was starting to get cooler. He noticed her hugging herself and he slid off the blazer he'd been wearing, holding it out._

" _The reason I stopped, Brielle, is because someone was following us."_

" _Fuck.. Well, there goes that. I thought I'd be okay, I'd finally get past all this shit when I came here. I should have just ran." Brielle muttered it quietly, Michael wrapped his arms around her from behind and then turned her around. "No, that's probably the last thing you need to do."_

" _Johnny isn't even gonna be able to stop this prick, Michael, he was crazy." Brielle's forehead rested against his chest and his hands smoothed in her hair. "You don't just have Johnny anymore, okay?"_

" _I'm not dragging you into this."_

" _You don't have a choice, okay? Look, we both admitted that there's something here. And I'm not going to just step back and let you go through this."_

" _I'm a mess."_

" _I don't care."_

 _They'd gotten back in his car and were driving towards her brother's mansion when Brielle tentatively reached out and carefully slipped her hand into his._

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **As previously stated in the footnote of my other stories, if you want to know more about Brielle, check out my user bio in the next hour or so and her information will be posted. you should probably read my user bio just to be safe to find out everything you need to know about my little alternate universe Altered Realities because trust me, it will be helpful.**

A reviewer gave me an interesting idea, to have AJ in here somehow.. I thought that given how he and Michael were sort of mending fences when AJ was killed, it'd be cool to have AJ make an appearance. So now we know that hoodie guy numero uno is harmless. That he's here to watch out for the women that this guy in black seems to be after.. Also, I opted to have them have their moment here too. Trust me, there is a lot of drama in store for all of these stories.

Anyway, I wanna thank everyone who's reviewed and favorited / followed, I love you all so very much for taking the time to do so and it means the world to me, you literally have no idea how much. I'm so glad you guys all seem to be enjoying the stories and I hope you guys continue to enjoy them!


	4. Chapter 4

FOUR

* * *

Brielle

I'm a notorious light sleeper, so when I thought I heard glass breaking downstairs, I was wide awake in an instant. What was weird was the security system I know good and well my brother has in this place wasn't immediately going haywire.

I've had to go down and turn it off before when a leaf blew in front of one of the sensors placed sporadically on the grounds outside. It's super sensitive and it's supposed to be state of the art too. I can't go into details because I'm not sure just how it works, but Johnny told me this friend of his, Spinelli, he made it and there's something in place that if it's ever hacked, the police are notified anonymously, via email.

Anyway, after the texts I'd been getting, the being followed and the weird phone call I'd gotten right after Michael dropped me off earlier, the fact that I hadn't slept decently in years and then all this other stuff, the stuff that I couldn't just explain away, something in me snapped.

Instead of going into meltdown mode, I slid out of bed, slid on some sweats and made my way quickly and quietly down the hall and into the study.

My brother kept a high powered sniper rifle in there and a few smaller guns. Jokingly, I call that room the war room.. Because sometimes, the guy who took over our grandfather's 'crime family leader status' holds little secret meetings here with other crime families and sometimes, Johnny still has to show up to them.

He is still figuratively the leader of the Zacchara family, after all, even though he hates it and he wants out.

I'm not sure what the hell I thought I was going to accomplish, but I wasn't thinking and overthinking like usual.. I grabbed a handgun and I loaded it, clicking the safety off and quietly, I crept around upstairs with the gun and a flashlight, looking into empty rooms.

Nobody was upstairs.

A loud noise from downstairs, near the kitchen got my attention.

My heart started to pound and my throat started to feel like it was getting smaller and smaller by the second but I pressed on anyway. I'm sick of being the meek little pushover. I'm sick of being scared to death of my own shadow.

My adrenaline was kicking in with each step down I took, and my hands started to shake a little. The door to the office John uses was open, there was a moving light flickering off the walls. I descended the stairs, gun out, finger barely on the trigger.

I managed to be quiet enough that I slipped right up on the intruder.. They were wearing head to toe black, including a ski mask. I pressed the gun into the presumably unarmed man's back and said in a barely calm voice, "Finding everything alright?" and the man froze.

He didn't speak and he didn't turn around. But I could see the slight tremble of his hands in the glow o the flashlight lying on the floor now. My heart kicked into high gear and I really felt like my legs were going to give out any second.

But I was on autopilot.. What would my mother do with this asshole?

What would Johnny do?

Given the documents he was going through, it wasn't a break in I could call and report to the police currently, I mean those were all the offshore accounts. Why in the hell someone would break in to steal copies of the bank statements of those, I'll never know, but.. I wasn't exactly in the fucking mood to try and ask why either.

I wanted this asshole out of my hair.

I wanted to be back upstairs in my warm bed.

But I needed to finally face down my thousands of endless fears too.. Maybe that's why I'd done this instead of just calling 911.

That was clearly what I should have done.

"You got a gun?" I asked.

The man shook his head.

"Get down on your knees. Don't move. If you move, you're never going to have a problem getting air to your head again.. Do you understand me? Answer me!"

"I understand." his voice was raspy; familiar somehow. But at the time, that wasn't registering.. Like I said, I was operating on autopilot. I saw the duct tape and I grabbed it, and then I taped the guy's hands behind his back quickly, keeping the gun trained on him the entire time.

The sirens echoed through the night and I gaped as the reflection of their flashing blue and red lights bounced off the walls of the office. Secretly, I was glad for the cops to take over and the shock settled in on me, what I'd done.

The door down the hall burst in and I heard shouting. By the time the cops got to the office, I'd managed to pull myself together enough to be able to answer their questions after asking one of my own.

"A woman called in four minutes ago. She didn't give a name, just gave this address and told us the house was being broke into and her daughter was alone upstairs."

And hearing that sort of confirmed that maybe I wasn't losing my god damn mind, that what happened to me in the alleyway wasn't a hallucination.. Maybe my mother was lurking and watching over John and I.

It made sense given everything I knew about her from the stuff my brother told me when I'd ask.

They started questioning me and I answered their questions, but I'm guessing since I'm related to mob royalty, they wouldn't be fully satisfied until they had me in the station downtown..

So I was sitting at a desk in the interrogation room, stale cup of coffee in front of me when my brother burst in furious.

"She's the one bein broke in on and you're gonna question her like she's the perp?"

Whatever Michael's brother Dante told him seemed to calm him down and then my brother was sitting across from me. "You had one hell of a night."

"Mhmm."

"You're okay, though, the prick that broke in, he didn't… Do anything, right?"

"Honestly, I'm not even sure why he broke in. I mean who breaks into a mobsters house knowing they are armed to the teeth and doesn't have a single weapon on their person? It was just.. Weird? And the guy had these creepy cold eyes, John." I muttered as the shock started to lift and I realized exactly what I'd done earlier.

I'd held a gun on someone. I'd taped their wrists and if they'd have made a move to hurt me? I'm pretty sure I'd have pulled the trigger..

I don't think I said much on the way back to the house, and the second my brother and I were inside again, I was just.. Relieved. I felt like tonight had been meant to show me something, to teach me something and I felt like I'd learned.

I wasn't some pathetic little pushover.

I had it in my to be my own hero and tonight, I'd had to…

Johnny hit play on the answering machine and I froze on the bottom step as the maniacal laughter filled the room and a raspy voice said simply, "Not tonight, beautiful.. But soon." and for a second, my brother and I just looked at each other.

Everyone's been saying this killer wears a ski mask.. The man who's been following me lately has been wearing one every single time I've noticed him since having it pointed out to me in the alley by 'ghosts'.

My heart started to pound and my throat closed up and I swallowed really hard.

Had I held a gun on my creepy stalker tonight?

Or the killer that's been striking at will lately?

I shook my head in disbelief. My brother made his way up the steps and hugged me, told me that he and Evette were just up the hall if I needed anything and that the security system was up and running again.

I think I was so worn out from shock and adrenaline that for the first time in quite a few years, when I got back into bed, I passed out almost immediately, only the high point of my day replaying itself over and over again in my mind as I slept. I didn't wake up until almost 9 am the next morning and I was thanking God that I didn't have an assignment for Crimson and that the library in town that I work part time at was closed today.

But I felt well rested and a lot more clear headed and that was definitely a good thing.

* * *

Michael

NextMorning

I was barely awake when I went down to get a cup of coffee and Alice nodded to the little tv set she kept in the kitchen to watch while on breaks or waiting on food to cook for the evening. I stepped into the kitchen doorway and Alice asked with a smirk, "Is that the Brielle you kept talking about?"

"Yeah.." my heart was pounding against my chest and I gaped at the tv set. Alice filled me in on what happened and I gaped a moment when she told me that she'd heard that Brielle basically taped the guy's wrists together and apparently, called the police all while holding a loaded handgun on the guy.

I bit my lip and chuckled a little.. But I was worried, so I grabbed the cordless phone and I called the temporary cell phone number of the phone she was using, an unlisted work phone.

"Hey.. Are you alright?"

"Honestly, Michael I'm not sure if I did a brave thing or a dumb one last night… I mean yes, I'm okay, but there was a message on the answering machine when I got back from PCPD last night too.. Either I was face to face with a harmless burglar, someone working for my ex or the killer that's been terrorizing Port Charles and I might have possibly pissed them off.."

I groaned inwardly and she told me what happened.

"I'm going to talk to somebody about guarding you."

"John already has. They apparently gained access by knocking out the security guy at the end of the drive and using the access code. Suffice to say, he's got people roaming all over the place, guns out." Brielle didn't sound happy about it, but I was a lot more relieved knowing it.

I kept it to myself because I'm still not entirely sure what will happen.. I mean we kissed last night before I got her home but.. As skittish as she is and the way my luck goes, I'm just not sure what will happen from one minute to the next.

I wondered if she thought about the kiss last night, but I didn't dare ask.. Not yet anyway. I had to get off the phone to go to work, but I just kept thinking about it all day, how close she might have been to dying last night.

And how I would have felt if she had.

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **As previously stated in the footnote of my other stories, if you want to know more about Brielle, check out my user bio in the next hour or so and her information will be posted. you should probably read my user bio just to be safe to find out everything you need to know about my little alternate universe Altered Realities because trust me, it will be helpful.**

 **And Brielle is finally getting a little backbone here! Praise God, ahahaha.. But will her actions have consequences later? Who knows..**

And a huge thank you to those who favorited and followed, I love you all so very much for taking the time to do so and it means the world to me, you literally have no idea how much. I'm so glad you guys all seem to be enjoying the stories and I hope you guys continue to enjoy them!


	5. Chapter 5

FIVE

2 Days Later

Brielle

The texts stopped and maybe I got a little braver and that's why what happened to me wound up happening. I'd just stepped out of the Metro Court and into the darkness, shivering as I dug around in my pockets for the keys to my mom's old red Porsche.

The hand was over my mouth and tangled in my hair before I could even scream or it even fully registered that it was happening. But that same adrenaline that kicked in two nights before kicked in again and I sent the back of my head smashing into the nose of my assailant and luckily enough, it was a hard enough blow to stun the person and give me at least a good ten second headstart. And I used that headstart to my advantage, running faster than I'd ever ran in my entire life. I heard the heavy footfalls and I slid around a corner and into the alley between Corinthos Coffee and a print shop next door to it, knocking as much shit over as humanly possible to keep obstacles between me and my would be attacker.

At the end of the alley, I found it. I grabbed the 2x2 wood plank quickly and I crouched behind a dumpster, heart beating so loud I thought for sure it would give away my position. The attacker made their way down the alley, stumbling over the things I'd shoved down to deter them and I stood, wood plank in my hand, waiting on a chance to nail him in the face, because that had been my intent when I picked it up.

He came at me quickly and I backed up, tripping over something in the process and I worked my way to the nearest corner. The attacker kept coming and they'd pulled me up after stopping to pick up the plank, tossing it nearby, safely out of my reach, they were trying to drag me back down the alley. I bit down on the arm across my neck, the attacker dropped hold and I scrambled for the plank, getting my hands on it just as the attacker was lunging for me again. He got me down and I hit the ground hard, the back of my head bouncing a little on the pavement and we were fighting for the plank of wood, he was trying to use it to choke or probably bash my skull in with it, I was trying to get a grip on it to hopefully do the same. Finally, the attacker dropped the plank next to me and focused on strangling me with their hands instead and I squirmed and kicked and tried to dig my fingers into the attacker's cold and empty eyes with every intent to claw them right the fuck out.

One single shot, a warning shot, rang out through the night air and a light came on at the door leading into the coffee shop from the alley. "Ten seconds and the cops are en route."

I recognized the voice and I screamed as loud as I could and that angered the attacker, they drove their forehead into my face to shut me up and I felt the blood poring from my nose but I kept squirming and trying to choke the attacker while they were trying to choke me.

The scream bought footsteps out into the alley just as I was getting weaker and the attacker was squeezing tighter. I honestly believe that this attacker was intent on my death and they wouldn't have stopped until I stopped breathing if it hadn't been for the footsteps and the sudden appearance of other people.

* * *

Michael

After Sonny fired the warning shot, I shoved past him because I'd heard and recognized the scream. I don't think my adrenaline has ever kicked in that fast but I was panicked. By the time I got out and down the alley to Brielle, she was laying on the ground and barely breathing, blood poring from her nose and a few scratches in her forehead. I picked her up and ran back inside, grabbing my keys. Since the hospital closed, Dr. Obrecht pushed for the clinic in town to stay open later and tonight, I was glad she did and she'd won her argument.

Five minutes versus thirty was better. I got Brielle into the backseat of my car and Sonny, to my surprise, got into the passenger seat. "I'm gonna take the car when you get her in the clinic and go to the station.. I'll talk to Dante about what went down and see if they can't get somebody to sit with her I she's gotta stay."

I nodded and I think I only thought I was a speed demon for that little while that Sonny was letting me drive his faster convertibles in high school. I'm pretty sure I broke a land speed record getting Brielle to the clinic. I tossed the keys to Sonny and told him I wasn't leaving Brie here by herself. He nodded and he took off to PCPD down the street and I helped Brie into the clinic.

Liz was working the desk and the second she saw Brielle, she ran over, getting a wheelchair ready, getting Brie situated in it and getting her into a cubicle down the hall. I walked into the cubicle and sat down, looking at my hands, waiting, letting the doctor examine her and stitch her up, practically seething in anger as they did.

She had to have 18 stitches in a gash in the back of her head and four in her forehead, two in her lip because during the fight she'd bitten through her lower lip.

"What happened?"

"I think the killer tried to grab her tonight.. I saw somebody in a ski mask running away but I was more worried about getting Brielle here than going after them." I told Liz in a flat tone and Liz sucked in a breath, shaking her head. "I hope they catch this jerk soon. It's really starting to scare a lot of people."

"If they don't get him, Elizabeth, I am."

"Michael.."

"I'm pretty sure Lucky feels the same way. They haven't entirely ruled out your fall as a seperate incident, remember?" I eyed her and she shook her head. "My fall was caused by Ava.. Or Paul Hornsby.. Either way, it had nothing to do with this killer on the loose now.." I could tell she was trying to talk me down and I didn't blame her, but I was just sick of it, all the harassing Brielle to the point that she's almost afraid of her own shadow.

She's been through enough, you know?

I looked up when Dante came in with Sonny behind him and Johnny behind them. Johnny was furious, swearing and hitting things.

"I need to talk to Brielle about what happened."

I nodded but I told my brother I was staying right there and Johnny took the other seat in the room, arms crossed. Dante made us both wait in the hallway, he said that he didn't want us getting any ideas.

Little does he realize, I've already gotten them and if I can get my hands on this asshole who keeps attacking and following her? I'm going to do it.

And Johnny has the same idea.

* * *

Johnny & Michael

"You findin her saved her life, Michael. But if you're thinking about going after this guy? Not until I get my shot at the asshole." Johnny eyed Michael as he spoke, popping the knuckles on his left hand. Michael shook his head and told Johnny calmly, "I can't make any promises."

"If it's that son of a bitch I got her away from I'll take down the whole god damn organization. I'd be doing a public service anyway. And if I can find that no good son of a bitch who called himself her adoptive father? He's dead too because he's the reason all this shit happened to my baby sister." Johnny was talking, mostly to keep himself from leaving now and just going on a man hunt, kicking in every door he could looking for the hideout of whoever this ski mask wearing prick was.

Michael took a few deep breaths and then said quietly, "Count me in when you find them.. Brie didn't tell me everything but I know enough to know that she had no actual control over the situation, she was just forced into it. It made me sick."

"Be glad you didn't find out all of it, Michael.. What's your deal with my sister anyway?" Johnny was eyeing Michael intently as he asked the question.

"Have you ever just felt a connection with somebody, Johnny?"

"She needs to get her head on right again, Michael."

"I know that. But you asked me and I don't believe in lying or hiding anything. So now you know. I'll give her as much time as she needs, I just… I think I love her."

"Ya barely know her, kid." Johnny eyed Michael, not sure how he felt about Michael admitting how he felt. He'd forgiven the kid for the night his mother died, he understood why it happened, he just wasn't sure how he felt about anybody connected to Sonny within a foot of his sister.

"I want to get to know her."

"You know that's gonna be hard, right?"

"Yeah.. But I don't care."

The door opened and Dante walked out, sitting down. "Forensics is on the way. The attacker left skin under her nails."

Johnny and Michael eyed each other and then Dante, Michael asking quietly, "Is she okay?"

"Mad as hell right now, but she's okay. Obrecht said that when the doctor finishes with the wound on the back of her head, she can have one of you in at a time. They want to keep her here over night. I'm calling one of the guys at the station to come down and sit with her."

"I'll stay too." Michael and Johnny both said it at the same time.

"That'll help." Dante stood and walked down the hall, waiting on the officer who was going to stay with them all in the clinic that night. Michael saw the doctor leaving Brielle's exam room and he made his way in quietly, sitting down.

"Thanks to that son of a bitch, I had to cut a lot of my hair."

"You're alive though." Michael muttered as he reached for her hand and tentatively, she slipped her hand into his. "He won't be when I see him again though." Brielle muttered as Michael thought to himself the exact same thing.

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **As previously stated in the footnote of my other stories, if you want to know more about Brielle, check out my user bio in the next hour or so and her information will be posted. you should probably read my user bio just to be safe to find out everything you need to know about my little alternate universe Altered Realities because trust me, it will be helpful.**

 **And Brielle is finally getting a little backbone here! Praise God, ahahaha.. And here we have the consequences of her actions.. But is her stalker the actual killer or not? Stay tuned, bahaha.**

And a huge thank you to those who favorited and followed, I love you all so very much for taking the time to do so and it means the world to me, you literally have no idea how much. I'm so glad you guys all seem to be enjoying the stories and I hope you guys continue to enjoy them!


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

* * *

Brielle

Halloween Night

The carnival was crowded and I found myself hovering close to Michael despite all attempts not to. My eyes darted around, I was honestly memorizing the layout of the carnival so that if I had to, I could run and as soon as I started, I grumbled at myself and the habit and stopped.

"It's okay.. You're with me and I'm not going to let anything happen." Michael's voice was comforting yet I was still anxious enough that it felt like I wanted to bolt at any second. The fact that I've never really been comfortable in large crowds coupled with the recent events and an attack I survived was playing havoc on me.

And then I got to meet Michael's mother and she scowled at me.

"What is she doing with you?"

I probably should have walked away then but I didn't. I mean if his mother doesn't like me, I can't blame her.. For all I know, I'm probably the reason all these girls are turning up dead.

In my mind, it was the strangest thing but I could almost swear I could hear my mother telling me to relax.

But I can't because I've never really been able to just relax and enjoy a moment. And I still had mixed emotions about this whole pull that I have to Michael when I should rightfully hate him.. I think hearing his side of things kind of helped me understand what happened and how my mother wasn't herself in the months leading up to her murder.

But it's still… Weird?

I mean, he killed her.. But I can't stop myself from being drawn to him, from wanting him. If anything, that kiss last week only added fuel to the fire.

"Mom, don't start."

"I told you, Michael, she's a danger magnet. And I can't just stand by and let you.." Carly's voice faded into the background because Michael was leading me away, grumbling under his breath and apologizing profusely to me about what she said to which I replied, "Your mom has a point."

"No, Brielle, she doesn't."

"Michael, you've put yourself in danger too much lately because of me. Your mom is right." I sighed quietly and stopped, looking out at the harbor. Michael slid his arms around me and said quietly, "I don't care, okay?"

"And I don't want you dying because of me, either." I was turned around and I was getting lost in the hypnotic brown of his eyes. He rested his hand on the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss. Much to my chagrin, I deepened the kiss and from behind us, we heard coughing and promptly bolted apart.

Morgan and his girlfriend Tessa stood there, Morgan was chuckling and Tessa was clapping her hands and Michael and I were blushing.. We're both mostly private people so yeah, it was something akin to having your parents walk in on you having sex to us, even if we were only making out.

"Don't mind me, bro." Morgan chuckled as he asked both of us if Carly started in on us about the 'danger' yet.

"She did and I'm seriously getting tired of it, I mean she's given me the same lecture every single night for over a week or two now. I'm an adult. I'm going to make my own decisions." Michael fumed a little and then asked Morgan about some dinner that his father is insistent on having this weekend, something about a special announcement.

Michael wants me to go with him but I'm not sure, I mean… I'm not even sure what to do about my feelings for him and what if my ex shows up and puts him in danger. I know enough to know that I'd never be able to live with myself if something happened to Michael because of me.

"Mom said it had something to do with Lily still being alive. You know that's why Dad went to Puerto Rico, right? Apparently, Morgan, we might have a sister."

"Or it's a con." Morgan shook his head and then asked if Michael and I were going through the haunted house later.

"I don't know.." I bit my lip and tried to think of a way to beg off but instead, a few seconds later I found myself saying yes. Morgan and Tessa can be really convincing, Morgan seemed to not think it was a good idea because Tessa was pregnant but Tessa waved off his concerns.

"There better not be clowns though." I blurted out and Michael shifted his gaze to me as I explained, "I punched a clown once.. I was 8 and it was a circus. The thing freaked me out, okay?" and Michael chuckled as I gave him a playful scowl.

' _Open up.. you have to let him in, okay? You have to trust your mom on this._ ' and it was weird, for a split second, I'd almost swear I smelled the same perfume I seem to smell a lot when I think I hear her talking to me. I bit my lip and Michael must have noticed that I'd fallen silent because he asked me if I was okay and I nodded, shrugging the whole thing just now off as just another bizarre instance.

They happened so much lately I was getting used to them.

I spotted the fortune telling booth and I fixed my gaze on Michael as he raised a brow. When he saw his half brother's mom in charge of the booth he shrugged it off and then chuckled, grabbing my hand as we made our way over to get in line.

Josslyn and Morgan and Tessa turned around to continue our conversation. Josslyn smiled at me and then nodded at her brother as she mouthed, 'He likes you… A lot.'

I felt my cheeks reddening and I didn't have to look up at Michael to see that yes, he was blushing too. To make conversation with me, she eyed my costume and then admitted, "I wanted to come as a psycho nurse but my mom wouldn't let me.. Said the costume was too sexy?" shrugging as she dragged her fingers through her hair.

"But your costume is awesome. Carol from that tv show Walking Dead, right?"

"Mhmm. One of the girls I babysit is dressed up as one of the girls she took care of for a while… as a zombie. I did her makeup." Josslyn bragged and I smiled.

Tessa and Morgan went into the booth before us and then it was our turn. Michael looked down at me and asked with a laugh, "Ready?"

"Let's just hope they don't tell me I'm gonna die." I laughed quietly even as my stomach churned nervously.

We sat down in front of Mrs. Falconeri and she looked from me to Michael and smiled. She went into some speech about how we were going to have a long road ahead, but where we were right now was exactly where we needed to be.. But then she asked a question that had both of us looking at each other for a minute.

"Both of you've been seeing the parent you lost. What have they been telling you?"

I bit my lip.. Normally I saw my mom when I was really down on myself or I was about to face something really tough or I was having doubts about this whole pull I felt towards Michael. Michael admitted that he saw AJ a time or two and that AJ kept telling him not to ignore or confuse his heart or his mind and the night I got attacked, he said he could almost swear he heard AJ earlier that day, just before he'd texted me on a whim to see if I were alright. Something about he didn't want Michael to repeat all his mistakes.

"My mom.. She mostly tells me to stop trying to ignore my feelings.. That she understands why things happened the way they did and that I need to just let go and be open.. And I saw her a few times when I had a close call." I admitted.

"Sounds to me like both of ya should listen to them. They're here because they need to guide you. There are things they need you to know." and Michael and I nodded. We thought it was done but Olivia had one last thing to tell us.

"I see a new life ahead for you two."

"Huh?"

"Sometimes, Michael, it's vague.. But I keep seeing this little girl with a head full of dark brown hair. Next Halloween, though.. thinking it will all be crystal clear." Olivia mused, giving us both a soft and knowing look.

I bit my lip because yeah, I've fantasized about making love to Michael but.. I've been trying to refrain from it? I mean I'm still really confused about the pull I feel to him.. Parts of me want to fight it and keep fighting it but then other parts of me.. They want to just let go.. Let him have me in any and every way he wants.

Michael coughed a little and I trailed my hand through my hair and we made our way back outside. "We should probably go find Joss and Morgan and Tessa."

"Johnny just texted and said that he and Lila are incoming.. That Lila wants to check out the haunted house with us. Are you sure it's a good idea, going in the haunted house?" I asked as I looked up at him. He chuckled and then teased me about Josslyn mentioning that there was a clown involved and I poked out my tongue making a sour face.

"One year my friends and I actually spent Halloween night locked in a house that was supposed to be haunted. We called ourselves ghost hunters." I admitted, shaking my head as I laughed. Michael laughed and shook his head as he admitted, "I used to think Sonny's mansion was haunted."

"Oh really?"

"Mhmm.. Found out later in life that it was just Sonny.. He can't sleep at night most of the time so he gets up and paces around all over. But when I was about 5 or 6 I was convinced that some kind of ghost was pacing the floors all night." Michael admitted and I laughed.

"Cute. Well, the night in question, my friends and I discovered that a well placed mirror will give the illusion that a window in the attic of a house is lit. Too bad we didn't realize this before we went in the house. Nothing happened that night and we all got in serious shit when we were found out.. Apparently, it's frowned upon to sneak off campus." I laughed as we walked towards some of the games on the midway.

"C'mon." Michael was practically dragging me and we were in line at some 'shooting' targets for a prize thing. "You don't have to do this." I told him and he slid a 20 to the man running the booth.

I gaped as he hit the bullseye twice and seconds later, my arms were overfilled with a large stuffed leopard. I took out my own money and paid and Michael gaped when I nodded to the Giants replica jersey on the wall about ten minutes later.

I shrugged and he chuckled.

* * *

Interlude

 _Mother To Mother – Claudia & Carly_

 _Carly and Sonny had just gotten back from the carnival in town, Carly was still fuming about Michael showing up with Brielle Zacchara, the daughter of Claudia. "I just don't like it, Sonny. Every single close call Michael's had lately, it's been because of her."_

" _Butting in isn't gonna do anything but make him avoid you."_

" _I don't care. I'm not going to just stand by and let our son get involved with.. Her daughter."_

" _I don't think the kid's all that bad, really.. And she was chewing him out for getting himself involved in her mess. She doesn't want him getting hurt. Michael's old enough to know what he wants.. Both our sons are." Sonny sighed and shook his head, pouring himself some Scotch as he admitted, "But I know how you feel.. I mean seeing Adele tonight with that damned Alcazar.. Knowing that thanks to me not knowing about her, being in her life.."_

" _Doesn't feel so good, does it?" Carly rose to tiptoe to kiss her husband and then yawned. "I'm going up to bed. Don't stay down here all night fuming about seeing her with Diego."_

" _You don't lay there all night thinkin of ways to break up Michael and Brielle."_

" _I make no promises." Carly went upstairs and got ready for bed. She'd just gotten her bath ran and sank down into the hot water and she was bolted awake from the little nodding off she'd been doing by the sound of a voice that made her blood run cold._

" _How the hell are you here? you're.. You're dead."_

" _You need to stop butting in." Claudia glared at Carly as she stood in the corner of the bathroom, her arms crossed. "What's happening right now is good for both of them.. Do you think I picked Michael to be the one who is supposed to be with my daughter? Hell no.. I mean nothing against him.. I just think Brielle deserves more, a chance to really be out of the danger that this whole mob lifestyle presents.. It's the whole reason I gave her up for adoption.. But things are the way they are, Carly and this is how it's supposed to go. There's nothing either of us can do because god knows I tried to intervene and turn Brielle away from this at first.. But seeing Michael with her.." Claudia was pacing and Carly was gaping and on the verge of screaming but for some really weird reason, no sound came._

" _You honestly think your daughter is better than my son."_

" _No.. As usual, you're jumping to conclusions. It's nothing against Michael. I did things.. When Brielle was born I gave her up.. To a family who had no ties to any kind of mob whatsoever.. And I prayed to whatever God there might be that she'd never have to live through what I lived through."_

" _You really mean that you gave her up because you knew you'd be a horrible mother." Carly retorted only to have Claudia laugh and roll her eyes as she said calmly, "That's rich coming from you.. And you're suddenly mother of the year? Nope."_

" _At least my kids are first priority."_

" _If they were, Carly, there are so many things you'd have done differently. Your kids are pawns in whatever game you see fit to play with whatever man you're trying to control or bed. I gave my son and my daughter up because I knew they were safer away from me than with me.. Do you know how much I hated myself for years after?"_

" _You're seriously doing this.. Lecturing me on being a parent."_

" _What I tried to do for Brielle didn't matter anyway, the first family that adopted her died when she was about 14 or so.. And then my father found her and gave her to some asshole.. To basically repeat my life.. But she got out. Johnny found her and got her the hell away from there recently.. And she came here. When I found out that she was supposed to be with Michael..." Claudia stopped talking for a minute. One look at Carly clearly told her that the woman was still the same, willing to do whatever underhanded thing she had to to bend everything to her will. "This is bigger than you and me. There's a natural order to things, okay? And if you dick around with that, Carly.."_

" _If I keep my son from a lifetime of misery and potential danger, you mean." Carly cut in, a glare at Claudia, wondering if this were some kind of bad dream, still wanting to scream but a scream wouldn't come._

" _Keep on, Carly.. And Sonny will find you dead in the tub."_

" _Was that seriously a threat? What are you gonna do? Drown me?"_

" _If only I could. Kind of can't now." Claudia retorted before stating calmly, "You'll get it soon enough when all your attempts to come between the two of them only wind up blowing up in your face.. Because that's what bought me down here to begin with.. I was trying like hell to stop all this when I found out who she was going to end up with."_

" _And naturally, you failed. See, I won't. Sooner or later, Michael will come to his senses."_

" _My daughter, Carly, is nothing like me. If you learn anything, it needs to be that judging people harshly when you've probably done worse is never a good idea." Claudia was fuming in anger and as a result, the lights in the bathroom flickered momentarily and all the candles blew out._

 _Carly swore but when she woke up, Claudia was gone and she found herself wondering what Claudia's speech meant. And how to keep Michael from wasting himself on Claudia's daughter Brielle._

* * *

Michael

"I fucking hate clowns." Brielle was wedging herself against me and I couldn't help but snicker a little. On the other side, Josslyn was doing the same but adding, "Should I punch him or will you, Brie?"

"If that damn clown pops out of one more corner, I'm liable to." Brielle grumbled and I groaned inwardly. We heard a scream up ahead and Morgan laughing as Tessa called out, "They believe in fucking jump scares here, I see. But was the brain in a bowl really necessary?" and I called out, "It wouldn't be a haunted house, Tess, if they didn't have brains in bowls."

From behind us, Johnny and Lila were swearing about the spider webs they'd walked through. "It had to be a fuckin spider web."

"Johnny, it was fake."

"You screamed too, doll."

"Shut your face."

"You guys do realize this haunted house is nothing like the ones we 'ad back in Australia, right?" Ethan spoke up as Kristina muttered quietly, "If you mean that they don't almost induce labor then thank Christ for that. That last room was… Weird."

"Weird doesn't really even begin to describe that.. Whatever the room was." Ethan commented as he shoveled a hand full of candy corn into his mouth.

"My dad painted most of that, actually." Tessa and Morgan backtracked because Morgan apparently found a 'secret tunnel.' and Tessa naturally wanted to go through it, she claimed she wanted the full haunted house experience.

"Trust me, you do not." Molly spoke up as Brielle nodded in agreement.

"I'm with Brielle, actually." I agreed as Morgan chuckled and started to mimic us. "No sense of adventure." and TJ teased Molly gently, "C'mon, babe.. Don't you think I can protect you?"

"Oh I do.. I just agree with my sister.. I don't want to give birth in a haunted house?" Molly told TJ who kissed her forehead and begged off of the secret room.

"I have a sense of adventure." I called out to Morgan and Brielle added, "My sense of self preservation kinda trumps it though." and I grabbed hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She bit her lip and eyed the 'secret room' and it's entrance with wariness and I don't blame her. Finally, she sighed and shrugged. "What the hell.. I mean I've lived through scarier shit lately.."

"You're sure you want to do this?"

"No hiding and jump scaring me like you did two rooms back, Michael." Brielle looked up at me and I chuckled and nodded. "I'll try to resist." I teased gently as we all prepared to go through the secret room.

As we made our way through, I found myself kind of thinking about Olivia's prediction back at the carnival and I just found myself wondering if it were true.. And kind of hoping that deep down it was.

* * *

FOOTNOTE:

 **And Happy late Halloween, guys! This chapter was kind of fluff and 'ghosts' appearing in Port Charles because I had to get at least one showdown between Carly and Claudia in here, I mean.. C'mon. I'm so thrilled! I got more reviews and favorites and follows and I'm so glad you guys seem to be enjoying the series. A few more people made guest appearances in this chapter too and... Ethina baby! Yess. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the update.**

 **Go vote in my poll because it's a neat sort of idea I had and I wanna know if anyone would be interested in reading it if I did post them. I have one or two written already, just trying to gauge interest already before I post the thing on here. And soon, I swear.. I'll have Diego and Adele's story up.**


End file.
